The Beauty and her Beast
by FanimeScribbler
Summary: Even after two years, despite the unbreakable bond between us, I still couldn’t quite believe that he was mine. Bella's POV.


**The Beauty and her Beast**

**Disclaimer: **I forgot to add this when I added it - whoops. And no, I'm not Stephenie Meyer. Obviously.

**Da Scribbler says: **Yep, I am most definitely on a fanfiction roll – first the Zelda fic, now this! Wow...I hope this spree doesn't end before I finish my long Zelda fic. It'd _better _not...

I don't know why I always feel the need to talk about where my fic ideas come from, but I do so...here goes.

Well, I was listening to Beauty and the Beast, sung by Celine Dion after I suggested it to Chocofreakazoid to use in _her _fanfic. After a while, I got on Youtube and searched up random clips from the Disney movie. It got me thinking about random things...like Twilight. And then Bella and Edward's voices pop up in my head and start talking. (heavens above, this sounds like Stephenie Meyers is typing this out, not FanimeScribbler o.O)

Anyways, yeah, this idea for a Twilight fic – a (a or an? I can't be sure) oneshot, to make things even better – had just popped up and there was no way in hell I was gonna let it escape me.

And voila...we have the end product.

As for the time frame for this oneshot, I'm placing it in between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn – so, probably a few weeks before the wedding.

And yes, I know I stole an outrageous amount of half-phrases and half-descriptions from the Twilight saga in the writing of this. I was trying to write it as like Bella as possible and there were only so many ways that she described Edward so...they stuck. Both in the official books and in my fanfiction.

Anyways - enough of this ceaseless rambling. Onto the fanfic!

Read and review please!

* * *

***

Do I love you because you're beautiful,  
Or are you beautiful because I love you?  
~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, _Cinderella_

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,  
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.  
~William Shakespeare, _Mid-Summer Night's Dream_, 1595

_***_

* * *

It was another, completely ordinary Saturday. Charlie and I had finished eating dinner, and he had just left for Billy's place down at La Push – but not before giving me a strict talk about "keeping it responsible." Ugh. I shuddered and in spite of my efforts not to, I could feel myself blushing. I hated it whenever Charlie brought up those talks. It didn't help with the guilt meter that I was trying to do everything I could to get Edward to do exactly what Charlie didn't want us to do, either.

I washed the dishes absently, not really paying attention to what I was doing. For, any moment now, Edward would be here...

And his arms were suddenly wrapped around me, his perfect lips at my ears.

"Did you miss me, love?" he murmured in his perfect velvet voice. I didn't bother responding in words, and reached out to kiss him, relishing the exquisite taste of his flawless marble lips. Would I ever stop marvelling at the taste of those lips? No, probably not.

He pulled his face from mine, chuckling gently, and his honey-gold eyes were warm with love and laugher. "I'm glad to see you too, Bella." He leaned in to kiss me again, but I held up my soapy hands and said, "Wait. Let me dry my hands first, or else I'll get soap bubbles all over your shirt."

He laughed and withdrew, but kept his arms around my waist as I dried my hands on a cloth. "It's not as if I'll be wearing this shirt again – Alice, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Alice," I groaned. When it came to clothes, she was implacable. My wedding dress, for one thing – but no, I would not think about that. I had determined from day one not to think about my wedding any more than I absolutely had to, and I wasn't about to change that now.

"There, all done," I announced, stuffing the cloth back into its drawer. "Now, we can get back to what we were doing." And I twisted around to kiss that impossibly beautiful face again.

He kissed me back, his arms wrapped around me, his intoxicating scent filling the air. My own hands twisted in his hair, trying to bring him as close to me as possible. My heart was working overtime, as it usually did around Edward.

As always, I eventually started to gasp for breath and Edward would break the kiss, of course – air or no air, I didn't want to ever stop kissing that perfect face. Even after two years, despite the unbreakable bond between us, I still couldn't quite believe that he was mine.

"So," I said breathlessly. "What are we doing tonight?" I reached up to kiss him again, but he caught my hands and stopped them.

"Nothing of that sort tonight, Bella," he said, grinning my favourite crooked smile. "Let's wait for _after _the ceremony to get there, alright?"

"Spoilsport," I accused him, even as my face flushed scarlet. Edward laughed, and kissed my hair.

"What about a movie instead?" he suggested. He gestured towards the television in the living room. "We could watch _Romeo and Juliet _again, if you like."

"Thanks, but no thanks." I'd had enough of both Romeo and Juliet for a while now. I walked over to the shelf next to the television set, and frowned at the limited variety of old movies Charlie had. There were mostly old tapes (the majority of them being recorded games), and only a few DVDs. My eyes fell on some old Disney movies.

Vaguely, I remember watching these when I was forced to go to Forks for the summers as a kid. As it was raining half the time, I spent as much time indoors as possible and I knew the plotlines of most of these movies like the back of my hand. The films looked up at me like old, half-forgotten friends who I hadn't seen for years. _Cinderella, Mulan, Aladdin, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty_...

Edward followed my gaze and noted the limited selection of movies. "I could get a movie from home, if you like."

"No, it's alright - I've already chosen a movie," I said, and I picked up _Beauty and the Beast_.

"_Beauty and the Beast_? I didn't know that you liked Disney movies." The way he said the name Disney made me look up.

"You don't like Disney, do you?" I asked, frowning slightly. How could you hate Disney movies? Edward took in the disapproving look on my face and smiled at it.

"Well, _Beauty and the Beast _was pretty good, I'll admit that. But nowadays, Disney spends its time creating trash like that _Hannah Montana _series," he said, with a faint crease on his marble forehead. "And _High School Musical_! It was just a modern version of _West Side Story_, which was in turn a modernized version of _Romeo and Juliet_." He shook his head. "No, I don't like modern Disney. There's no creativity at all."

"Well, you're right about _Hannah Montana _and all the rest," I admitted, wrinkling my nose in distaste. "But the Disney classics were some of the greatest animated movies ever made."

I made to take the tape out of its case but Edward had already taken _Beauty and the Beast _out of my hands.

"You know, you don't have to do _everything _for me," I complained mildly as he inserted the tape into the old VCR player. "I'm not as completely handicapped as you think I am."

"No, I suppose you're not," he chuckled and then he kissed me, which effectively distracted me for a few moments. He was just so _perfect..._

"Are you _sure _you wouldn't rather...?" I asked suggestively when this second kiss ended.

"Yes, Bella." He sighed exasperatedly, although there was still a glimmer of humour in his eyes. "You are so human, aren't you?"

"Well, I can't help that," I said lightly as I kissed him again.

He chuckled, and then withdrew his face gently from mine. "Let's watch the movie now, shall we?" he suggested in his melodious voice, and he gently steered us to the sofa.

I sighed - a huffy agreement – and plopped down on the sofa, Edward mirroring my motion. "Alright. Let's watch the movie."

***

I sighed contentedly. There were few things in life that got better than cuddling with Edward, even with the mandatory blanket in between us to keep me from freezing.

Hard as it was to concentrate on the movie with Edward sitting next to me, I _was _watching it. And again, the movie fascinated me as much as it had the first time I had watched it, as a small, awkward (that part hadn't changed a bit) child of seven.

Again, I sympathized with Belle, as she made her way through a world that thought her insane. I felt her fear as she met Beast, and her determination to save her Father when she gave herself up. I smiled as the overjoyed servants treated her to a breathtaking dinner, and even sang along with _Be Our Guest _wherever I remembered the lyrics (this had earned me a half-exasperated, half-amused look from Edward). And as I watched Belle and Beast waltz across the magnificent ball room, idle thoughts began to wander into my brain.

"Bella, love? What are you thinking about?" Edward murmured into my ear after a while. Hm. My thoughts must have shown on my face.

"Will you ever stop asking me that question?" I asked him, not out of any real annoyance. "I mean, does the curiosity ever get any less?"

He moaned. "I wish it did. But stop avoiding the question Bella."

"Well, I was thinking about Belle and Beast," I said, gesturing toward the screen. "And kind of how they're a little bit like, well, us."

He raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Well," I started, "it's their relationship; how it started, how it develops, the circumstances behind it, and...I'm not making much sense, am I?"

He laughed. "No, not really – not that that's much of a surprise."

I made a face. Were the workings of my mind really that hard to follow?

He took in my expression and laughed softly again, drawing me closer to him. I snuggled closer to him through the thin blanket, marvelling again at that flawless marble chest. "Go on, love. I'm listening."

"Um, let me see if I can explain this a bit better."

Edward waited while I thought about it for a while, trying to sort my thoughts into somewhat comprehensible order before I answered.

"It has something to do," I said slowly, "with how they weren't supposed to fall in love. But they did anyways. In spite of all the odds stacked up against them." I smile up at Edward. "Kind of like how we fell in love, even though…"

He smiled, that crooked smile that never fails to take my breath away. "The lion and the lamb?"

I laughed in response. "Yes, exactly."

He leaned down to brush his lips against the hollow of my throat once. I sighed, and closed my eyes, resting my cheek on his tousled bronze hair.

"It does fit in places," he admitted after a moment of silence. "After all, we have our Beauty," he said in his honey-smooth voice, and kissed my throat, "and then there's the Beast." He laughed, with just a touch of bitterness echoing in that mesmerizing laugh.

"You, the Beast?" I objected violently. "Far from it. _You're _the beautiful one and _I'm_ beastly hideous in comparison." And that was no exaggeration. Edward may call me beautiful all he likes, but that can't change the fact that I'm merely human – at least, until we got around to changing that.

He sighed in quiet exasperation. "Bella, how many times must I tell you that you _are _beautiful before you will accept that fact?"

I ignored him and ploughed on. "And don't you _dare _call yourself a beast or a monster just because of what you are," I continued as if I didn't just hear him speak, and hugged him with all the pitiful force I could muster, snuggling up even more. The chill was starting to seep through the thin blanket, but I fought to keep myself from shivering; I didn't want him getting away.

"But I _am _a monster, Bella," he murmurs soberly, his golden eyes staring into mine. I struggle not to lose my focus in the depths of those liquid eyes. "A monster in the very worst sense of the word. Beast has it lucky," he says the last bit so quietly, I'm not sure whether he was talking to me or to himself. "He's only a monster figuratively."

"You are _not _the Beast," I said again stubbornly, and crossed my arms in a gesture of defiance.

He laughed at my scowling face. "I _have _to be the Beast, love. You certainly can't be Beast."

"And why not?"

"Beast is the man," he said pointedly. I blinked.

"Oh," I said lamely. My cheeks burned as a blush crept into them. "I guess I didn't think of that."

"Obviously not," he murmured, amusement plain in his voice. I duck my head into the crook of his arm to hide my burning face. Not that it really mattered – we both knew I was blushing. "Besides the issue of the genders, there's also the fact that you have much more in common with the Beauty than I do."

"Like what? Oh, right – we're both the village weirdos." I rolled my eyes. "We both like books, and everybody around us thinks we're nuts."

"Your names are similar too, love," Edward pointed out.

"Hm. Belle and Bella," I muttered to myself. "Huh, I never noticed that before."

"And you are both much too popular with the boys for your own good," Edward concluded, with a disgruntled expression. I still didn't see where he drew that ridiculous conclusion. Sure, there was Mike Newton. And then there was Eric and Tyler as well. But that was it. It wasn't as if I was actually beautiful – especially when compared to Alice or Rosalie. But why should he even be jealous? After all, I belonged, with a doubt, to him – body, soul and heart.

"Well, Belle's not that openly sought after," I reminded him. "There's only Gaston."

"True." His eyes turned thoughtful, and then mirthful. "If we are keeping up this _Beauty and the Beast _analogy, then would that make Gaston Jacob?"

Jacob. Icy pain stabbed into me as soon as I heard his name. Edward saw my reaction, and his expression immediately turned concerned.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he apologized in a whisper, kissing me, his liquid eyes burning into mine. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, it's alright," I respond in a whisper of my own. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault." It wasn't his fault that Jacob wasn't here. It was mine. It was because of my rotten, selfish self that Jacob was unhappy.

Jacob...I missed him so much. Every part of me longed for him to be here, longed for me to be able to see him and his warm smile again. But it was better this way, with Jacob far, far away from me, so that I couldn't hurt him anymore. I had hurt the three of us – Jacob, me and Edward – far enough already.

"I also have quite a bit in common with Beast," Edward said in a light-hearted tone. I knew he was trying to distract me, so I wouldn't be unhappy. Edward was always trying to keep me from hurting. A wave of nearly desperate love for him washed through me, as well as a pang of guilt. All I ever did was hurt him, hurt him, and hurt him even more. Would I ever be deserving of his love?

"We were both selfish, old brutes who were left alone for a long period of time," Edward continued, with a wry smile on his lips. "Both too stuck up and stubborn to think anything other than that we were perfect in our own self. And then," he said, his velvet voice full of wonder, "Our Beauties came. Our Beauties who lighted up our bleak lives with light, laughter, hope, and of course, love." And then he looked into my eyes with those liquid gold eyes, and in the fathomless depths of them, all I could see was love. Pure, unwavering, steadfast love – love for _me_.

Could a heart hold this much love without bursting? It felt like mine would; it was almost painfully full of overwhelming love for Edward. Beast had always felt that Belle had been too good for him. I thought I knew now how Belle would have felt. What did it matter what they looked like, or what they were? We _loved _our Beasts – always would!

I reached out to him, and I framed his impossibly beautiful face with my hands. "I love you," I said simply, trying to put into those three small words even a tiny fraction of the feelings I felt for him into them. "I love you, and I always will."

"Forever," he agreed, and he looked at me with such passion in his features that I felt my heart stop. And he cupped _my _face with _his_ own cold hands, and lifted it gently to his to kiss me. When it ended, I wrapped my arms around his marble chest again, and hugged him. I wished that I was strong enough so that I could hold him here beside me forever, that I could be worthy of him. But mostly, I just revelled in that overwhelming emotion that was the love that we shared.

Then I realized with a start that the television was still on. The movie had been playing the whole time we had been talking and I realized sheepishly that I hadn't been paying much attention after Belle and Beast's dance. I turned my attention back onto the movie, and Edward, with a small smile, did likewise.

We watched the screen of the nearly forgotten television silently as Beast, heartbroken, was attacked by Gaston. We watched as Belle returned, calling out Beast's name, and as the will to fight flashed into Beast's eyes. We watched as Beast overcame Gaston, and the hunter turn into the hunted. We watched Gaston's pleas, Beast's mercy, and the joyous reunion of the two lovers. And we watched as Gaston, ever the wicked fiend, plunge his wicked dagger into Beast's side.

We watched Beast lie there, fatally wounded, while a grief-stricken Belle kneeled beside him. We watched as Beast breathed his last, and was still, and Belle's broken confession of love to the corpse beside her, just as the last petal of the enchanted rose fell. And, in true fairy tale fashion, Beast was alive again and the enchantment was broken. We watched as the two lovers waltzed again in that celebrated ballroom, and...

"And they lived happily ever after," I whispered, a smile on my lips.

"Belle and Beast may have gotten their happily ever after," Edward murmured slowly. There was sorrow in his perfect voice; I wished that I could wash that sorrow away. "But, Bella, love...no matter what happens, there will be no happily ever after like that for you and me."

"But I don't _want _a happily ever after," I replied. I kissed him fiercely, my arms locked around his neck. "All I want is you."

He looked at me incredulously, but I could see the sorrow that had been in his velvet smooth voice lurking in the depths of his eyes. "You don't want a happily ever after?"

I shrugged. "Not necessarily." I kissed him again, breathing in the delicious scent of him. He gently pulled me away, ending the kiss. "I don't need a castle, or a prince, or to break an enchantment," I continued. "You _are_ my fairy tale, because you see, you _are _my happily ever after."

Edward suddenly kissed me fiercely, so that I gasped, my cheeks burned and my heart leapt into a frenzied drumming. Just as suddenly, the kiss ended, and then he was hugging me in his stone arms. Then he laughed once, a sound so full of joy that it took my breath away just to hear it.

"In that case, then you're the only princess I'll ever need - Beauty," Edward said, smiling that enchanting crooked smile of his.

"Of course. And you'll be my prince then – Beast," I played along, smiling back at that beautiful face.

And we – the "Beauty" and the "Beast" – continued, as we always have, towards that future that is our "Happily Ever After".

~the end~

* * *

That was probably the single most disgustingly romantic thing I've written in my life. I cannot believe that came out of my pen...or rather, my keyboard.

And yes - I bashed Hannah Montana and HSM proudly! I like Disney classics better...'cause HSM is getting ridiculous (at least there can't be a HSM4 - but they can always start on "University Musical", heavens forbid") and Hannah Montana is...Hannah Montana -_-.

Hope you romance saps enjoyed it though. Please review!

~Da Scribbler


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